A disgrace to the hostel industry, September 21, 2003
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Anonymous
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I would like to share the unpleasant experience two friends and I had recently at The Spinning Wheel Hostel in Gort, Ireland. On arrival at the hostel there was no response to our ringing the doorbell, but the young lady from the pizza shop next door told us we could find the owner at the local butcher's shop a few doors along the street. When we arrived at the butcher's shop we paid the balance for our night's accommodation and the lady from there collected keys to let us into the hostel. She explained that they had not had any guests for a while and that our room was not prepared but asked if we would be willing to use another room (which she said was made up). Unfortunately this room had no key, but she assured us that we were the only people in the building so giving us the front door key would provide security. No sooner had she said this than a young man came up the stairs, unlocked and entered the room next to ours. Seeing our disbelieving looks the lady told us that it was okay he just works in the pizza hut and comes here to get changed.Upon entering our room, we found sheets and duvets on the bunks, but the pillows had head indentations in them. The floor was not cleaned, the waste paper bin was not emptied and there were earrings on a shelf. We were told that the bathrooms were upstairs and that if we wanted to have a shower we would need to turn the hot water on for twenty minutes. In one bathroom the shower appeared (and smelt) as if it had dried urine in it. There were lumps of a dried dark substance on the floor and there were no towels or toilet paper. (We cannot comment on the condition of the other bathroom as there was no light in there and we could see nothing.) Downstairs in the kitchen the light was not working and the sink was cluttered with dishes and cooking utensils (remembering that no one had stayed for a while I wonder how long they'd been there!!) and that whole area had an unpleasant odor. At this point we decided that we could not stay in these conditions.While appreciating that hostel accommodation can be basic (we had stayed in other hostels around the UK), we believe that there should be some standard of cleanliness. We asked for our money back, but the butcher/hostel owner indignantly told us that cancellations needed to be made 24 hours in advance or the first night's tariff had to be paid. How many people would be in a position to check out conditions 24 hours in advance? The lady at this point apologized and said that the cleaner had not been in that day (this was 5:30 pm!!!) I question whether other people have been caught by this little scam as I'm sure that only the very desperate would be prepared to put up with these filthy conditions. I would certainly not recommend The Spinning Wheel to anyone!!!
